Pick handle protector



June 15, 1943. E. TYLER 2,322,178

PICK HANDLE PROTECTOR- Filed Dec. 18, 1940 l IbNENToR 4, w mm.

Patented June 15, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PICK HANDLE PROTECTORErnest Tyler, Daisytown, Pa.

Application December 18, 1940, Serial No. 370,621

1 Claim.

y present invention relates to a protector especially adapted for use ona pick handle adjacent the head thereof for thepurpose of greatlyincreasing the length of life of such handle.

A conventional pick or pick ax has a metal head It which is generallyslightly curved in a longitudinal direction and which terminates at eachend in a relatively sharp point H, flaring from each such point to thecentral heaviest portion I2 thereof. The central portion is providedwith a socket [3 for the reception of one end of the handle #4 and isfrequently provided with V-shaped projecting portions (eyes) l'5 in theconventional manner. The wooden handle employed with such head issubject to battering due to violent contact with material being brokenor loosened by mean of the pick. Particularly in connection with rockymaterials or formations, the handle is subject to countless blows andthe abrasive action of such rocky material, with the result that thehandles become so damaged after a relatively short time that they mustbe replaced. Depending on the particular type of work involved, handlesmust be replaced at rather frequent intervals.

The foregoing ituation is relatively unsatisfactory and the constantdamaging and replacement of handles is frequently a matter of veryserious expense. This often works a hardship where it can be leastafforded. Some steps have been taken in the past with a view towarddecreasing the frequency with which such handles must be replaced and,to some extent at least, cutting down the damage to such handles byrocks and other hard or abrasive materials. So far as I am aware,however, there is no protector for handles which is available on themarket today and I believe that this is not only highly significant asshowing that prior proposed protectors were of little or no value butthat there is a real need and demand for a satisfactory pick handleprotector.

It is, accordingly, one of the objects of my present invention toprovide a protector especially adapted for picks and pick axes whichwill enable the damage to and replacement of handles to be drasticallyreduced.

Another object of my invention resides in providing handles of thecharacter herein set forth with a protector of such nature that eachhandle will have a life at least about four times as long as the samehandle without my new protector.

Another object resides in providing a protector which, while substantialand long-lived in its nature, can be made and sold at a very nominalcost.

A still further object of the invention resides in cutting down the costof work or operations which involve the use of picks or pick axes.

Other and. further objects and advantages will be understood by thoseskilled herein or will be apparent or pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I have illustrated a preferred formof the present invention:

Figure 1 shows my protector in operative position on the handle of apick or pick ax and in the proper relationship with respect to the headthereof;

Fig. 2 illustrates in perspective my new protector fully formed andready for application to a handle; 7

Fig. 3 represents a cross-sectional view of the new protector taken online III-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 illustrates the blank from which the protector is first formedprior to its being shaped to final form as shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5'illustrates in fragmentary enlarged section the interlock jointemployed in the finished protector;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line VI--VI of Fig. 2; and n Fig. '7 isa section taken on the line VIIVII of Fig. 1.

Prior protectors which have been proposed but which have found nocommercial use so far as I am aware have generally been made of flimsymaterial poorly designed. This, in my opinion, is the chief reason forlack of adoption of a pick handle protector which is so sorely neededand yet the demand for which has not heretofore been successfullyfilled. Proposed protectors have also suffered, I believe, from the factthat they either did not give effective protection or they were toodifiicult and expensive to manufacture and therefore eliminatedthemselves from adoption and use since this necessitated elaborate diesand machinery for production purposes. Still other protectors weresupplied in the form of a blank only, which had to be applied and shapedaround each individual handle as used. This is not only unsatisfactoryexcept where the protectors are made of very light or thin material butpresent standardization of handles has eliminated the necessity forsuch. Jointly and severally, there have therefore been numerous reasonsfor the present status of protectors of the character here involved.

Referring now to the drawing and describing my new protector in detail,I first produce from a suitable starting piece I6 a blank I! whichtapers from one end toward the other but which at the wider end isprovided with a pair of spaced rounded projections terminating inthree-sided rectangular lugs or extensions which are substantiallytangent to the projections. On its sides, the blank l! is notched out asshown at 28 and is provided contiguous thereto with longitudinallyextending partial marginal portions i9, the dotted lines adjacent thesame indicating the points at which the same are folded over forinterlocking purposes as hereinafter described. The blank if can beproduced very simply by cutting the same out with an inexpensive cutteror die.

In accordance with this invention, the mate,- rial from which theprotectors are made is preferably cold rolled steel having a substantialthickness, e. g., of the order of .014-.025. Such material of suchthickness is not only hard, resistant and stiff but is well adapted toreceive and absorb the shocks and blows which would normally actdirectly upon the wood of the handle. Such a protector also is capableof receiving a good deal of punishment without breaking or rupturing andwithout allowing any very considerable damage to be transmitted to thewooden handle therebeneath for a substantial period of use.

As will be understood from reference to Figs. 2 and 3 in particular, theblank ll of Fig. 4 is shaped or formed so that it assumes asubstantially tubular condition having a substantially oval bore to formthe protector 29. The cold rolled steel is shaped, after it is cut out,by a forming or shaping machine provided for that purpose, although theconfiguration may be imparted to the blank in any suitable manner. Notonly is the cold rolled steel bent to form an oval or ellipse (note Fig.3) but the marginal portions l9 already mentioned are folded over toproduce interlocking portions 2| which act on each other in the generalmanner of a shepherds crook type of connection. The fact that thematerial in its formed condition is under tension and compression causesthe interlocking portions to hold each other firmly and in such manneras to prevent accidental or undesirable disengagement.

The notching of the material adjacent one end of the folded-overportions enables the rearward parts of the protector to be brought intoclose juxtaposition and, moreover, provides the overlapping partialmarginal extensions 22 by means of which the device can be fastened tothe pick handle through use of auxiliary fastening elements such as thetacks, screws or brads 23. This arrangement, moreover, forms a protectorwhich has no point of weakness and in which those portions which mightnormally be expected to be the weak points are at least as strong as andfrequently stronger than the remainder of the protector so that theutility and protective function of the device are not rapidly destroyedby contact of such portions with hard or abrasive materials orformations such as rocks or the like. By referring to Figs. 2 and 3 inparticular, it will be appreciated that at the joint or line ofconnection the protector has a minimum of two thicknesses of cold rolledsteel and in a large proportion of the length of the joint has fourthicknesses of cold rolled steel due to the interlocking structureemployed.

Further attention is directed to the three-sided lugs 24 previouslyreferred to in connection with blank I1. In Figs. 2 and 6 it will beparticularly noted that these lugs have been also folded over and thatthey are converted to a generally arcuate form substantiallycomplementary to the adjacent portions of the protector. It will beappreciated that when the blank of Fig. 4 is formed to the device ofFig. 2 the corresponding end of the completed device now has abifurcated character and that the space between the furcations isV-shaped, diminishing to zero at one end of the interlocking parts. Eachprojecting portion 25 of the V is in a concavo-convex form andsubstantially U-shaped in cross section, as will be clearly apparentfrom Fig. 6.

The lugs 24 in their ultimate configuration also have a dual function.Due to the fact that the folding over of these lugs presents a smoothrounded forward edge the ease of applying the protector to a handle isgreatly increased since this smooth edge guides the protector along thehandle in such a manner as to prevent catching or sticking, and when theprotector is in its ultimate position, as shown in Fig. 1, the distalends of such lugs form relatively sharp wedge-like members which diginto the wood of the handle a small but sufficient amount to preventrelative movement of the protector on the handle. The V-shaped end ofthe protector is also so designed and constructed as to cause theforward end of the protector to be spread or wedged open since the usualhandle generally flares somewhat toward the head of the pick. This istaken advantage of in connection with my present invention to give atleast two additonal points of advantage and utility. The spreading ofthe V- shaped termini on the forward end of the protector causes theinterlocking portions to grip each other tighter and tighter until apractically immobilized connection is produced in the final position ofthe protector on the handle. In addition to this, as the forwardV-shaped end of the protector spreads, the rearward tapered endcorrespondingly contracts so that by the time the protector is in itsfinal position the rearward end of the protector has taken a firmunyielding hold on the handle. Thus the protector is so firmlypositioned that in many cases no auxiliary fastening means at all arerequired. I prefer, hov ever, to put small tacks or brads in thepositions shown in Fig. 1 and designated by the numeral 23 in suchmanner that they pass through both layers 22 of the cold rolled steel,as will be clearly understood from a consideration of Fig. 7. I may alsoapply such fastening instrumentalities to the sides of the protector atpoints indicated by the arrows 26 of Fig. 1.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that I have for the first timeprovided a substantial and practical protector which very greatlyincreases the life' of pick or pick ax handles and which can not only bemade at a nominal cost but which can be fully formed ready for use insuch manner that they need merely be slid over the handles to take theirfinal position. Likewise the protectors may be very simply and quicklyremoved merely by removing or prying out the tacks or brads andunlocking the interlocking parts. Then a new protector can be positionedto replace the old and the same handle thereby continued in use foranother extended period. Not only do I make it possible to effectmaterial savings over a period of time but I make it unnecessary to layin a stock of extra handles and to insert and fasten such handles inplace in the conventional manner. The protector in no way detracts fromthe use thereof and, in fact, improves the appearance and increases theefiectiveness of the use of such pick, as has been definitely proved byactual use. The hard and tough nature of the cold rolled steel forms anunusual- 1y eifective article.

It is further to be understood that theforegoing is intended asillustrative and not as limitative and that within the spirit and termsof the appended claim I may make various additions, omissions,substitutions and modifications without departing from the principlesand scope hereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A cold rolled steel protector for a pick handle which comprises atapering tubular shield of oval section which is preformed to fit suchhandle and which is adapted to be slid thereover in fully formedcondition larger end foremost, said shield having one V-shaped endcapable of interfitting with said pick head and a pair of terminalinturned lugs at the ends of such V adapted to engage said pick handleclose to said pick head, said protector having a seam extending for asubstantial proportion of the length of the protector along one sidewhich includes complementary interlocking bent marginal members and atleast one marginal extension between which and the adjacent portion ofthe interlock the protector is notched out.

ERNEST TYLER.

